Protrepticus

 Raging for corruptions, celebrating insolence, deifying sorrows, the first to lead men by the hand to idols, yes, indeed, to stones and wood, that is,

 May inspire, and which may receive the 1.5.4 lord. yes, indeed, david the king, the harpist, whom we mentioned a little before, was exhorting towards

 And to statues and to certain such images having bound them fast with the wretched bond of superstition, that which is indeed said, bringing living me

 Let her who does not give birth hear let her who does not travail break forth with a cry, for the children of the desolate are more than of her who

 Breathing roughly is interpreted as the female serpent but deo and kore have already become a mystic drama, and eleusis holds torches for their wande

 A herdsman, the goad, calling the narthex a herdsman's goad, i suppose, which the bacchants indeed wreathe. 2.17.1 do you wish that i should narrate t

 And the swineherd eubouleus from whom sprang the hierophantic family of the eumolpidae and kerykes, 2.20.3 this very one at athens. and indeed (for i

 A teacher of the woman's 2.24.2 disease to the other scythians. for which reason (for it must by no means be concealed), it comes over me to wonder in

 They have fabricated certain saviors, the dioscuri and heracles, averter of evil, and asclepius the physician. 2.27.1 these are the slippery and harmf

 Apollodorus says, and callimachus, phoebus is appointed over the sacrifices of asses among the hyperboreans. and the same poet elsewhere says, fat sac

 And of gods. he was so poured out in matters of love, as to desire all, and to fulfill his desire upon all. at any rate, he was filled with women no

 Is fashioned in the manner of a member and sits upon the branch, fulfilling the promise to the dead man. a mystical memorial of this passion, phalli a

 Is taught to be prudent. the myth is laid bare for you leda died, the swan died, the eagle died. you seek your zeus? do not meddle with the sky, but

 2.39.8 they acclaimed. but heraclides in *foundations of temples* says that in acarnania, where the actium promontory is and the temple of actian apol

 He records 3.42.7 to have offered a whole burnt-offering. and erechtheus the attic and marius the roman sacrificed their own daughters of whom the on

 In athens, on the acropolis, is that of cecrops, as antiochus says in the ninth book of his histories. and what of erichthonius? was he not buried in

 The so-called palladium, fallen from heaven, which diomedes and odysseus are said to have stolen from ilium, and to have entrusted to demophon, was ma

 Nor insult the blooming youth keep it pure, that it may be beautiful. become a king of beauty, not a tyrant let it remain free then i will recogniz

 Worshippers of stones, having learned by deed not to worship senseless matter, being overcome by the need itself, are destroyed by superstition but t

 And private individuals dignified themselves with divine titles, as menecrates the physician, who was surnamed zeus. why must i list alexarchus (he wa

 4.56.4 offspring of the earth, all these things that you see? why then, o foolish and empty-minded ones (for i will say it again), having blasphemed t

 They boast, having enrolled them as their own household slaves, having made them compelled slaves by their incantations. therefore, the remembered mar

 You shall make, says the prophet, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above and that is in the 4.62.3 earth beneath. would we, then, still s

 Those who worship it have suffered for others named this fire hephaestus. 5.65.1 but the magi of the persians have honored fire, as have many of the

 Of truth, do you show that those who have trusted in you are subjected to a flow and current and disorderly eddies? and why do you fill my life with i

 By counsel but indeed they raise pure arms to heaven, rising early from bed, always cleansing their skin with water, and they honor only the one who

 A comfort of the gods, images of stone, or bronze or gold-wrought or ivory figures and allotting sacrifices to them and empty festivals, thus we thin

 You will empty injustice. 8.77.1 now that the other things have been duly completed by us in order, it is time to turn to the prophetic writings for

 I swear by myself. but he is vexed with the idolaters, saying to whom have you likened the lord? or to what likeness have you likened him? did a car

 For how is it permitted for the foreigner to enter? but when, i suppose, he is enrolled and made a citizen and receives the father, then he will be i

 The wanderers of the hebrews for they are said not to have entered into the rest because of unbelief, until, having followed the successor of moses,

 10.89.1 but to overturn a custom handed down to us from our fathers, you say, is not reasonable. and why, then, do we not use our first food, milk, to

 Demands repentance. but i want to ask you, if it does not seem absurd to you that you, men, having been born a creation of god and having received you

 Punishment? why do we not accept the gift? why do we not choose the better things, god instead of the wicked one, and prefer wisdom to idolatry, and e

 10.98.3 promised? who has promised immortality? only the creator of all things, the father, the master-craftsman, fashioned us, man, such a living s

 To wipe away the hindrances to salvation, both pride and wealth and fear, uttering this very poetic saying: where, indeed, do i carry these many posse

 They inhumanly attempt to slaughter him who teaches humanely, who calls them to righteousness, neither awaiting the grace from above nor shunning the

 A portion to those who have turned to any part of life, and to consider wisdom the same waveless harbor of salvation 10.107.3 through which those who

 He who also was, through what he taught and showed, having presented himself, our truce-bearer and reconciler and savior, the word, a life-giving, pea

 Since you were not ashamed of your brother. 11.114.1 let us then take away, let us take away the forgetfulness of the truth having cast down the igno

 The trumpet with its great blast sounded, gathered soldiers, and announced war but christ, having breathed a peaceful melody to the ends of the earth

 Bound, you shall be loosed from all corruption, the word of god will steer you, and the holy spirit will bring you to anchor in the harbors of the hea

 12.121.1 let us hasten, let us run, o god-loving and god-like images of the word [men] let us hasten, let us run, let us take up his yoke, let us mou

10.98.3 promised? Who has promised immortality? Only the Creator of all things, the "father, the master-craftsman," fashioned us, man, such a living statue; but your Olympian, an image of an image, greatly discordant with the truth, is a deaf work 10.98.4 of Attic hands. For the "image of God" is His Word (and the genuine son of the Mind is the divine Word, the archetypal light of light), and the image of the Word is the true man, the mind which is in man, who for this reason is said to have been made "in the image" of God and "after the likeness," being made like the divine Word in his understanding of the heart, and by that rational. But the man-like statues, an earthly image of the visible, earth-born man, a temporary cast far from the truth, are revealed to be. 10.99.1 Life, therefore, being occupied with so much earnestness about matter, seemed to me to have become nothing else but full of madness. And custom, worn down by empty opinion, has made you taste of slavery 10.99.2 and irrational curiosity; ignorance is the cause of lawless observances and deceitful pretenses, which indeed † having been fabricated, having devised for the human race many forms of demons through deadly fates and hateful idols, has imprinted upon its followers a stain of long-lasting death. 10.99.3 Receive then rational water, wash yourselves, you who are polluted, sprinkle yourselves from custom with the true drops; it is necessary for the pure to ascend to heaven. You are a man, the most common thing, seek the one who created you; you are a son, 10.99.4 the most special thing, acknowledge the Father. But do you still abide in sins, being devoted to pleasures? To whom will the Lord say, "yours is the kingdom of heaven"? It is yours, if you are willing, you who have set your choice on God; yours, if you are willing only to believe and to follow the brevity of the proclamation, by obeying which the Ninevites, through genuine repentance, exchanged the expected capture for noble salvation. 10.100.1 'How then,' he says, 'may I ascend to heaven?' The Lord is 'the way,' 'narrow' indeed, but 'from heaven,' narrow indeed, but leading up to heaven; narrow on earth, being despised, 10.100.2 wide in heaven, being worshipped. Then, the one who has not heard the Word has ignorance as an excuse for his error, but he who has received it into his ears and <has disobeyed> with his soul bears disobedience from his will, and by as much as he seems to be wiser, his intelligence is to his detriment, because he has used his wisdom as an accuser, not having chosen what is best; for as a man, he is naturally disposed to be familiar with God. 10.100.3 Just as, therefore, we do not force a horse to plow, nor a bull to hunt, but we lead each of the animals to that for which it is by nature fitted, so indeed also man, who was made for the contemplation of heaven, truly a 'heavenly plant,' we exhort to the knowledge of God, having grasped that which is his own and excellent and peculiar possession beyond the other animals, advising him to prepare a sufficient provision for eternity, godliness. 10.100.4 Farm, we say, if you are a farmer, but know God while farming, and sail, you who are fond of sailing, but call upon the heavenly Helmsman; knowledge has taken hold of you while you are serving as a soldier; listen to the general who gives just commands. 10.101.1 Therefore, like men weighed down with stupor and drunkenness, become sober, and looking up a little, consider what these stones that you worship mean to you, and the things you spend in vain devotion on matter; you are squandering your money [and] your life on ignorance, just as your living on death, finding this alone as the end of your vain hope, being unable even to pity yourselves, nor are you fit to be persuaded by those who pity you for your error, being enslaved by evil custom, from which you are suspended, you are voluntarily carried away to destruction until your last 10.101.2 breath; "because the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light," it being possible

10.98.3 σατο; Τίς ἀθανασίαν ὑπέσχηται; Μόνος ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιου ργός, ὁ "ἀριστοτέχνας πατήρ," τοιοῦτον ἄγαλμα ἔμψυχον ἡμᾶς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν· ὁ δὲ Ὀλύμπιος ὑμῶν, εἰκόνος εἰκών, πολύ τι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπᾴδων, ἔργον ἐστὶ κωφὸν 10.98.4 χειρῶν Ἀττικῶν. "Εἰκὼν" μὲν γὰρ "τοῦ θεοῦ" ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ (καὶ υἱὸς τοῦ νοῦ γνήσιος ὁ θεῖος λόγος, φωτὸς ἀρχέ τυπον φῶς), εἰκὼν δὲ τοῦ λόγου ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀληθινός, ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, ὁ "κατ' εἰκόνα" τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ "καθ' ὁμοίωσιν" διὰ τοῦτο γεγενῆσθαι λεγόμενος, τῇ κατὰ καρδίαν φρονήσει τῷ θείῳ παρεικαζόμενος λόγῳ καὶ ταύτῃ λογικός. Ἀνθρώπου δὲ τοῦ ὁρωμένου τοῦ γηγενοῦς γήινος εἰκὼν τὰ ἀγάλματα ἀνδρείκελα, πόρρω τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπίκαιρον ἐκμαγεῖον, καταφαίνεται. 10.99.1 Οὐδὲν οὖν ἀλλ' ἢ μανίας ἔμπλεως ὁ βίος ἔδοξέ μοι γεγονέναι, τοσαύτῃ σπουδῇ περὶ τὴν ὕλην καταγινόμενος. Ἐπιτέτριπται δὲ ὑπὸ κενῆς δόξης ἡ συνήθεια δουλείας μὲν 10.99.2 γεύσασα ὑμᾶς καὶ ἀλόγου περιεργασίας· νομίμων δὲ ἀνόμων καὶ ἀπατηλῶν ὑποκρίσεων ἄγνοια αἰτία, ἣ δὴ † κατασκευασ θεῖσα τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος κηρῶν ὀλεθρίων καὶ εἰδώλων ἐπιστυγῶν πολλὰς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπινοήσασα μορφάς, κηλῖδα τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτῇ ἐναπεμάξατο θανάτου μακροῦ. 10.99.3 Λάβετε οὖν ὕδωρ λογικόν, λούσασθε οἱ μεμολυσμένοι, περιρράνατε αὑτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς συνηθείας ταῖς ἀληθιναῖς σταγόσιν· καθαροὺς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναβῆναι δεῖ. Ἄνθρωπος εἶ, τὸ κοινότατον, ἐπιζήτησον τὸν δημιουργήσαντά σε· υἱὸς 10.99.4 εἶ, τὸ ἰδιαίτατον, ἀναγνώρισον τὸν πατέρα. Σὺ δὲ ἔτι ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις παραμένεις, προστετηκὼς ἡδοναῖς; Τίνι λαλήσει κύριος "ὑμῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν"; Ὑμῶν ἐστιν, ἐὰν θελήσητε, τῶν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὴν προαίρεσιν ἐσχηκότων· ὑμῶν, ἐὰν ἐθελήσητε πιστεῦσαι μόνον καὶ τῇ συντομίᾳ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἕπεσθαι, ἧς ὑπακούσαντες οἱ Νινευῖται τῆς προσδοκηθείσης ἁλώσεως μετανοίᾳ γνησίῳ τὴν καλὴν ἀντικατηλλάξαντο σωτηρίαν. 10.100.1 Πῶς οὖν ἀνέλθω, φησίν, εἰς οὐρανούς; "Ὁδός" ἐστιν ὁ κύριος, "στενὴ" μέν, ἀλλ' "ἐξ οὐρανῶν," στενὴ μέν, ἀλλ' εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναπέμπουσα· στενὴ ἐπὶ γῆς ὑπερορωμένη, 10.100.2 πλατεῖα ἐν οὐρανοῖς προσκυνουμένη. Εἶθ' ὁ μὲν ἄπυστος τοῦ λόγου συγγνώμην τῆς πλάνης ἔχει τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ὁ δὲ εἰς ὦτα βαλόμενος καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ <παρακούσας> παρὰ τῆς γνώμης φέρει τὴν ἀπείθειαν, καὶ ὅσῳ γε φρονιμώτερος εἶναι δόξει, πρὸς κακοῦ ἡ σύνεσις αὐτῷ, ὅτι τῇ φρονήσει κέχρηται κατηγόρῳ τὸ βέλτιστον οὐχ ἑλόμενος· πέφυκε 10.100.3 γὰρ ὡς ἄνθρωπος οἰκείως ἔχειν πρὸς θεόν. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὸν ἵππον ἀροῦν οὐ βιαζόμεθα οὐδὲ τὸν ταῦρον κυνηγετεῖν, πρὸς ὃ πέφυκε δὲ ἕκαστον τῶν ζῴων περιέλκομεν, οὕτως ἀμέλει καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τὴν οὐρανοῦ γενόμενον θέαν, "φυτὸν οὐράνιον" ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν παρακαλοῦμεν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξαίρετον καὶ ἰδιωματικὸν παρὰ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα κατειλημμένοι, αὔταρκες ἐφόδιον αἰώνων, θεοσέ 10.100.4 βειαν, παρασκευάζεσθαι συμβουλεύοντες. Γεώργει, φαμέν, εἰ γεωργὸς εἶ, ἀλλὰ γνῶθι τὸν θεὸν γεωργῶν, καὶ πλεῖθι ὁ τῆς ναυτιλίας ἐρῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸν οὐράνιον κυβερνήτην παρα καλῶν· στρατευόμενόν σε κατείληφεν ἡ γνῶσις· τοῦ δίκαια σημαίνοντος ἄκουε στρατηγοῦ. 10.101.1 Καθάπερ οὖν κάρῳ καὶ μέθῃ βεβαρημένοι ἀνανήψατε καὶ διαβλέψαντες ὀλίγον ἐννοήθητε, τί θέλουσιν ὑμῖν οἱ προσκυνούμενοι λίθοι καὶ ἃ περὶ τὴν ὕλην κενοσπούδως δαπανᾶτε· εἰς ἄγνοιαν [καὶ] τὰ χρήματα καὶ τὸν βίον ὡς τὸ ζῆν ὑμῶν εἰς θάνατον καταναλίσκετε, τοῦτο μόνον τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἐλπίδος εὑρόμενοι τὸ πέρας, οὐδὲ αὑτοὺς οἷοί τε ὄντες οἰκτεῖραι, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῖς κατελεῶσιν ὑμᾶς τῆς πλάνης ἐπιτήδειοι πείθεσθαι γίνεσθε, συνηθείᾳ κακῇ δεδου λωμένοι, ἧς ἀπηρτημένοι αὐθαίρετοι μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης 10.101.2 ἀναπνοῆς εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑποφέρεσθε· "ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἠγάπησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον τὸ σκότος ἢ τὸ φῶς," ἐξὸν